Darrell Thompson, the former University of Minnesota record-setting running back, played with Brett Favre for three seasons (1992-94) with the Green Bay Packers.
Thompson, who is analyst for Gophers' WCCO-AM football broadcasts, watched Favre, now the Vikings' QB, play in Monday's exhibition game in Houston. Favre still has what it takes to win, Thompson said.
"Brett threw a ball so hard one time in practice that it got stuck in a guy's face mask," Thompson said. "We all laughed, but we also said, 'That guy can really throw!'
"Now do you need to throw a ball hard enough to get it stuck in someone's face mask? No. But he can throw it hard enough to get it anywhere he needs to get it."
Thompson is 41. Favre turns 40 next month.
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"Brett's still got the ability to escape, he keeps his eyes upfield and makes good passes," Thompson said. "He might not throw with the same velocity, but you don't need to. Brett's a gunslinger, and he's going to go down as a gunslinger. He's still going to throw the ball in spots he probably shouldn't.
"And he's got a lot better running back (Adrian Peterson) than I was back behind him. And when you've got the big machine behind him, and with almost the little toy in (wideout) Percy Harvin for the screens and wildcat and things like that, I think he can be extremely successful with the Vikings."
What about that surprising crackback block Favre threw against the Texans?
"Not a big deal," Thompson said. "It was borderline;
he just kind of rolled. He's also got to protect himself. You don't practice blocking at all when you're the quarterback. That block was just part of the game."
The Vikings play the Packers on Oct. 5 at the Metrodome.
"It will be huge, classic, all the way when he comes on the field and through the warmups, how he's received by our crowd and the Packer crowd, everything," said Thompson, who is from Rochester, Minn.
Favre and the Vikings return to Lambeau Field on Nov. 1.
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"I think it will be emotional," Thompson said. "Brett's an emotional guy; we all kind of are. I think it will be a fun game for him to go back. I know he's going to want to perform, and the team's going to rally around him. You can't help it. When you're with someone, you see the kind of person he is and you want to share.
"It's no different than that (crackback) block he made. He could have let the guy go. It's like, 'Naw, I'm playing football.' My dad told me when you're on the football field, you play football."
The fan reaction to Favre when he returns to Lambeau Field?
"I think they'll be a little hard on him, but you know what? He's still their guy; they know that," Thompson said. "He's a Green Bay Packer. My wife was joking last night that he looks a little odd in a Vikings uniform, but that's a part of the game."
-- Copyright (c) 2009, St. Paul Pioneer Press/Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services
